Robert Queen, the Hood
by rmlohner
Summary: The story of Earth 2's Robert Queen, who returns home to find a very different Starling City after five years stranded on an island. He will save his city and bring it back to the greatness he remembers it once had, as the vigilante the Hood.
1. Chapter 1

Robert Queen felt his eyes filling up as he watched the boat speed toward him. After five years, his exile from his family was coming to an end. But that thought just brought back to mind the person who wouldn't be seeing Moira and Thea again. He turned back for one last look at the island that had been his home, and muttered, "Goodbye, Oliver. I wish you could be here with me now. But given what's going to happen next, maybe I'll be seeing you soon." He didn't know how much to hope for that.

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The return of a titan of industry like Robert from what the whole world had assumed was his death naturally resulted in a media frenzy, and upon arriving back in Starling City he grimaced at the sight of dozens of reporters clamoring for a spot by his side. He shouted out in a tone he hoped could be heard over the roar they were making, "Ladies and gentlemen, I will be making a statement tonight. Until then, I only want to be with my family. I hope you can understand that."

As if on cue, his wife Moira burst from the crowd and raced to embrace him. But when he tried to move in for a kiss, he sensed some hesitation. Then a look of terror came over her face as she said, pitched so only he could hear, "Robert, I know this isn't the best time for this, but there really is no good time, so I'm just going to say it now. You were gone five years, and everyone thought you were dead. I mourned you with all of them, and I tried to deal with it as best I could." Robert's heart sank as he got a bad idea where this was going. And sure enough, her next words were, "A few months ago, I married someone else."

He closed his eyes and struggled to control his breathing. It was probably only due to the meditation exercises he'd learned that he succeeded, and said, "Let's talk about it in the car, away from all this." His wife nodded, and they waded through the crowd to the family limousine where his daughter Thea was waiting. She jumped up to hug him, and this time there was no holding back.

Once inside, Robert gently moved Thea away and said to Moira, "Now, who is this man?"

His wife sighed and said, "Without you, Queen Consolidated fell drastically in the stock market. I wasn't able to keep it floating by myself. But then I got an offer to merge with another company, completely equal ownership. And after working together for so long, it just became something more than business between us. His name is Ray Palmer."

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The Queen mansion looked just as Robert remembered it, at least from a distance. As they pulled up to the front door, there was one new addition in the man his wife had married. Robert had heard a bit about Ray Palmer before the shipwreck, a rising tech genius who would likely be a major player for the foreseeable future, but never expected their first meeting would be like this.

It would have been easy if Ray had been the arrogant young brat he had imagined back then, making himself easy to hate and an enemy to fight. But instead he looked just as uneasy as Moira as he stuck out his hand and said, "I'm so sorry about this, Mr. Queen."

Robert took another deep breath. Then he looked at the both of them and said, "I've had a while to think this over now. And I've decided, I'm not going to fight it. I was gone a long time, and you both thought I was dead. Neither of you did anything wrong." He turned fully to Moira as he continued, "And if I tried to fight this, all I'd be doing was forcing you to hurt one of the two men you love, no matter what you chose. Well, I won't do that." He shook Ray's hand and said, "She's an easy woman to fall in love with. I just hope she'll be as happy as she deserves."

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After getting to the basement underneath what was now Queen-Palmer Enterprises, the first thing Robert did was scream. He'd meant every word of what he'd said to Moira and Ray, but that didn't mean he had to be happy about it. But in the back of his mind, he also knew that just throwing a tantrum about it wouldn't serve any purpose. If there was one useful thing he'd learned during his exile, it was how to channel anger in a useful direction.

He began the hard work of setting up the headquarters for the mission he had decided to take on. Shortly before the shipwreck he had become aware of a cancer growing in Starling City, fed by a conspiracy of selfish, corrupt people of the kind he'd been rubbing elbows with his entire adult life. There was little he could do about it within the law, which meant he had to take the fight outside of it.

He had no illusions about what he was embarking on. He might be in the best shape of his life at the moment, but a 52 year old man heading into fights like this might not last very long. But he had to do something, and kept the image of Moira and Ray in his mind to give himself focus, and build up his determination to make something good come out of what he'd lost. And he already knew who he'd be going after first.

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"Lewis Snart, you have failed this city."

The man's reaction was disappointing. Even with an arrow pointed straight at his heart, he just chuckled and said, "Is it Halloween already? Get out of here and maybe I won't put you in jail. This is my office, after all."

Robert didn't let it faze him. "Your company makes its money on the back of slave labor and defective products that cost lives, and you buy your way out of paying for any of it. And now you're part of something that will destroy this city itself if it comes to back. I'm going to stop it, starting with you."

Snart shrugged. "Hey, you got me." He took a step forward. "But the question you have to ask is, are you really willing to use that thing. Because a rat bastard like me will definitely be willing to do some bad things to you, and I just changed my mind about the cops. I think I'll take care of you myself."

Robert felt himself hesitate, and hated himself for it. He would have to get past this kind of thing if he was going to what needed to be done, and let he kept letting the man take one step after another toward him. But then the decision was taken out of his hands when the door opened. After already being loosened up by Snart's attitude, this was enough for Robert to lose his grip on the arrow completely, and it flew straight into the man's heart.

Then came the last thing he expected, as the man at the door let out a horrified "DAD!" and ran to the dying Snart's side. He expired without a word, and the newcomer looked at Robert with burning hatred. Without any idea what else to do, Robert quickly pulled out another arrow and said, "Get out of here."

Snart's son, Leonard, he suddenly recalled his name was, didn't break eye contact all the way to the door. "This isn't over," he said as he left. Once he was gone, Robert shivered and dropped his bow to the floor. Things were already spiraling out of his control, and he had so much further to go.

#####################################################################################

Leonard Snart stormed into his apartment in a blinding rage, causing his girlfriend to jump off the couch and say "What is it?"

With tears in his eyes, Leonard said, "My father's dead. Some freak dressed like Robin Hood shot him with an arrow." The look on her face might have been comical in other circumstances, but he continued, "Yeah, I know how it sounds. I have no idea what was going on, but I'm going to find out. He killed my father right in front of me, and I'm going to kill him."

It suddenly occurred to him that he was putting a lot of trust in his girlfriend, that she wouldn't take that declaration straight to the police. But instead she said, "Let me help."

That startled him out of his anger for a bit. "Really? Because I'm dead serious about this. You know what you'll be getting into."

She put a hand on his shoulder. "And I don't care. I love you, and Lewis was going to be my father-in-law. He was my family too. Let me help you."

The sudden turn left Leonard feeling drained. He sat down on the couch and said the only thing he could think of.

"Thank you, Felicity."


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Wow, this is easily the fastest response one of my stories has ever gotten. I guess it's not too surprising, since I figure the Flash crew had to be deliberately throwing the fanfic writers a bone with that mention that Robert Queen was the Hood on Earth 2. Hope you all continue to like it.

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The person at the door of the Queen mansion was one that Robert had been dreading. Patty Spivot had been dating Oliver for a few years before the shipwreck, but for whatever reason, his son had left her behind in favor of Laurel Lance, the black sheep of one of the town's most respectable families. So how was he supposed to deal with the woman now?

Luckily, she made the first move. "I'm sorry I haven't come sooner. I just needed to take a while to get my feelings under control."

Robert nodded. "I can understand that. You must have been hurt pretty badly by what my son did."

"Yeah, you got that right. But how am I supposed to deal with that now? It was bad enough with just the possibility that he was gone, but…" she covered her mouth as she realized what she was saying.

Robert tried not to take it too hard. His son had treated this woman terribly, and the fact that he was gone now couldn't just magically erase that, no matter how much it pained him. "And I guess you thought talking to me might help?"

Patty shrugged. "I guess it seems kind of stupid now. And kind of cruel, too. But these past five years I've just been desperate to understand why he did it. Please, can you tell me anything?"

Robert sighed. What he was about to say was even harder than what he'd told Moira and Ray. "They say to never speak ill of the dead, but Oliver…well, he had his problems. And a lot of it was my fault. I didn't raise him as well as I could have, or he never would have treated you like that. So truly, I'm sorry for everything." He gave her a quite awkward hug on both their parts, and saw she was crying as he let go.

"I can't imagine how hard that was. So thank you. It might not be quite what I've been hoping for all these years, but I know it was the truth. And that's all I really wanted." As she walked away, Robert wondered if he would ever see her again.

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The murder of Lewis Snart would have been front page news all on its own, but two other things pushed it even further into the public eye. One was the files Robert had released to the press detailing his sordid business dealings, and the other was the description his son had given of the killer. The media dubbed him the Hood, and social media was exploding, split pretty much half and half between people condemning the murder and others proclaiming it justified. Somehow, both sides had settled on calling the mysterious killer "the Hood." Robert gave a little chuckle as he watched it all unfold; he'd never taken much interest in the likes of Facebook and Twitter before, but they certainly helped him stay on top of his reputation. He'd expected it to take a little longer for word of what he was doing to get out, but Leonard Snart may have done him a favor in spilling the beans right away. Now he had an active barometer of what the public thought of him, which should come in handy if he wanted to stay on any kind of moral high ground.

His target tonight was quite similar to Lewis, thanks to his decision to start at the bottom and work his way up. He had snuck into another office, and didn't have to wait long for its owner to arrive. As soon as he entered, Robert pulled out his bow and said, "Malcolm Merlyn, you have failed this city."

Malcolm's reaction was far different than that first experience. Pure terror filled his eyes as he stammered out, "You're the one who killed Lewis Snart, aren't you? But what do you want with me? Please, tell me there's something I can do to stop this. I have a wife, a son!"

Robert winced at that. He had actually been friends with Malcolm once. That changed when he started suspecting Moira of having an affair with him. He ended up confronting them both in a drunken stupor, and both firmly denied it, ripping his pitiful detective work to shreds as the product of a paranoid, unstable mind. That incident got Robert to stop his drinking, utterly ashamed of himself, but the friendship never recovered. Still, that didn't mean he could take any pleasure in what he was doing now.

"You're part of something that is going to destroy this city," he said, hoping the cheap voice distorter he'd gotten his hands on would help with someone who knew him so well. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow that."

That got Malcolm standing a little straighter. "I think I know what you're talking about. And believe me, I don't want to be part of it. The people in charge, they threatened my family if I didn't help them."

That was something Robert hadn't been expecting. "How can I trust you on that?"

Malcolm blinked back the tears that had been forming. "Look at my face. Listen to my tone. Do I really strike you as that good an actor?"

Robert thought it over for a couple seconds, then put down the bow. He hadn't been looking forward to doing this to Malcolm anyway, and if he didn't have to, he had to take the chance. "Maybe I'm crazy, but I'm going to believe you for now. And I'll trust it means you want to stop them."

Malcolm nodded vigorously. "Oh god, yes. Maybe even more than you, whatever you're doing this for. I can help you. I can get you information on them."

Robert's eyes narrowed. "You'd really be willing to take that risk?"

Malcolm's terror didn't keep him from a tiny scoff. "If the other choice is dying right now? Definitely."

Robert lowered the bow. "Then it's a deal."

Malcolm slumped in relief, and actually seemed to almost faint. "I might not be able to get the best stuff regularly, you understand. But I did overhear some of them recently, talking about a guy in Central City who's making something big for them. His name's Jay Garrick."

Robert nodded. "Then I guess that's my next stop. And when I get back, I'll know just how seriously you're taking this."

#####################################################################################

"And there you have it," said Felicity. Leonard just nodded, still in awe at what his girlfriend had managed to pull off. Reasoning that the Hood would have a recognizable pattern in selecting his victims, she'd managed to hack into the cameras in the personal offices of any other local businessmen of the same level as his father, keeping an eye out for wherever he . She had made no bones about how illegal it all was, but insisted that helping him with something so important was worth the risk to her. Now she turned to him and said, "I suppose we're going to Central City too?"

Leonard shook his head. "You're already in this too deep for my comfort. I can't ask you to face this guy with me."

Felicity sighed. "When are you going to get this? I'm in this with you all the way. You're not getting rid of me."

Leonard knew well that there was no point arguing further when she got like this, and said, "Then it's a good thing I've already got us a place to stay." He dialed on his phone and then said, "Lisa, Felicity and I will be coming to town soon."


	3. Chapter 3

It hadn't taken much to explain away his visit to Central City. Robert had taken on more of an advisory role at the company, explaining to Moira that at his age he didn't fancy how long it would take to learn the new way of doing things now that it was merged with Palmer Tech to enable him to be CEO again. It was another claim largely designed to allow him more time to devote to what the Hood had to do, but also had the advantage of being true. And now he'd told everyone he heard about a new scientist in Central City who might be useful to them, which should satisfy anyone who found out that he was going to see this Jay Garrick specifically.

He would have preferred to take Malcolm along, but didn't relish the hassle of concealing his identity from his former friend for such an extended period. Instead he'd settled for what little Malcolm had been able to glean from his mysterious masters, that Garrick was a brilliant scientist currently working on a solo project involving water purification. How that could be connected to their plan was unclear, but at least it gave him a starting point. And now here he was, in front of the building where the man did his work. Whatever he would find, he couldn't hesitate now.

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Lisa Snart broke into a huge grin as Leonard appeared at her door. The family had originally lived in Central City, until Lewis' work took them to Starling, and after college Lisa had decided to move back, having reconnected with some old friends, which led to a job opportunity. They rarely saw each other in person these days, and cherished whenever it happened.

This also meant she and Felicity were now meeting in the flesh for the first time, leading to an equally big hug. Once that was done, Lisa said sardonically, "Nice to see you're doing better than me. There was this guy David for a while, but it turned out he was just using me as his beard. Not that I wouldn't be up for that, but be up front with it, you know?"

Leonard smiled. Lisa had always lacked much of a verbal filter, which made her company a bit of an acquired taste, but he'd long gotten used to it. "Listen, it really is great to see you, but there's something important about this visit I couldn't tell you on the phone."

Lisa immediately turned serious. "It's about Dad, isn't it?"

Leonard glanced at the floor. "It happened right in front of me. I can see it whenever I close my eyes. And now they're saying all this horrible stuff about him."

Lisa interrupted, "Which happens to all be true."

Leonard sighed. "Maybe. But he was always good to us, right? And it seems like we owe him something for that."

Lisa stepped back. "Wait a minute, what exactly are we talking about here?"

Now Felicity spoke up. "You know what. We're going after the Hood."

Lisa took a couple steps back and raised her hands. "I didn't hear that."

Leonard said, "You weren't there. This is something I need to do."

"Both of us," said Felicity as she took his hand.

Lisa looked hard at both of them and said, "Even if I wanted to help, this new police chief Mark Mardon is coming down hard on anyone who looks at him wrong. You want to do it, at least don't do it with him around."

After a couple seconds, Leonard said, "All right. We won't do it here. But we do know where he's going to be today, so would you object to Felicity giving us a look inside the place? You never know what you can find out with a good hacker."

Lisa shook her head. "Fine. Just be careful. You're the only family I've got now, you know?"

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There was impressive security all around Garrick's lab, and Robert knew there was no way he could sneak past it, at least not without help, and he wasn't comfortable involving any more people in his crusade at this point. So as embarrassing as it was, he simply knocked on the door.

The man who answered couldn't hide a brief look of surprise, but recovered in another second. "Are you actually him, or is this some kind of prank from Arthur?"

Robert knew he had to work fast to gain the upper hand in the conversation, so he pushed Garrick hard in the chest as he walked into the room. "Oh, it's very real."

Garrick stepped back from him. "Okay, let's say I believe you. A bit out of your jurisdiction, aren't you? I mean, last time I checked, I wasn't any kind of corrupt businessman."

Robert pulled out his bow. "But you work for them. I'm particularly interested in a certain deal you have going on right now with a group in my city."

Garrick looked confused. "Yes, I am working with some people in Starling City, but they just want first dibs for my purification formula if it ever works."

Robert found himself thrown off guard again. Just like Malcolm, Garrick looked quite genuine in not being willingly involved with his enemies. But he didn't know this man, and couldn't take the chance that it was just a performance this time. He kept the arrow pointed at his heart and said, "You're part of something that is going to decimate Starling City, and I won't allow it to happen."

Garrick now looked truly worried. "Hey, I have no idea what you're talking about. Do you have any evidence? Because if they really are planning to use my work to hurt people, I don't want any part of it."

"And how do I know I can trust you?"

Before Garrick could answer, another figure came crashing through the window, a maneuver Robert had dismissed as far too suicidal. But somehow, there didn't seem to be any alarms going off, something Garrick also seemed puzzled by. But there was no time to worry about it, as the new arrival was standing up. They were wearing what was clearly a well armored suit that let them absorb the damage they'd taken rather more than Robert's Hood outfit would have, and he briefly pondered looking into something similar. Then every other thought was thrown out of his head as he saw the person's face.

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"So, this is just something you do now?" asked Lisa as all three huddled around Felicity's laptop. "Hack into places so you can spy on someone you want to kill?"

Leonard sighed. "I already told you, you don't have to be here. And if you are, please don't criticize."

"I just think…wait, what just happened?"

They all leaned forward to stare at the new arrival, who slowly stood up to face the Hood and Garrick, and conveniently the camera Felicity was currently hacked into. Leonard said, "Wait, is that…"

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Laurel? Robert was so surprised he barely stopped himself from saying the name out loud. His son's paramour took in the two of them with a discerning eye, and smiled. "Not quite what I was expecting, but my boss has been talking about you as too much of a wild card, Hood. So I'm sure he'll be happy to get rid of you too."

It suddenly clicked in Robert's head that the "too" at the end of that sentence must mean she was there to "get rid of" Garrick. And whatever that meant, he was sure it wasn't something he should let happen. "Get behind me," he said to the man he'd just been considering putting down himself.

Laurel put a sultry spring in her step as she began strolling towards them. "Perfect. It's always more fun when they fight a little." Robert began preparing his middle-aged bones for a fight, but then they were all distracted by a bright flash of light through the window Laurel had just shattered. It was quickly followed by a wave that reached them in what seemed no time at all, and then Robert didn't know anything else for quite a while.


	4. Chapter 4

Robert blinked back into consciousness at the sound of the door opening. Garrick and Laurel were both still in the room and also waking up, though he and Laurel got to their feet much quicker than Jay. Before anyone could say anything, a new person entered the room. Robert had never seen her before, but Garrick clearly recognized her, as he got a look of resigned annoyance.

"I told you, Miss Snow, my process is not ready, and when it is, I won't be selling to you."

The woman chuckled. "You mean you haven't figured it out yet? I'm robbing this place. Why do you think there aren't a bunch of alarms going off right now?" As Robert noted in the back of his mind that this explained the ease of Laurel's entrance, this Miss Snow went on. "Although I wasn't planning on there being a party here today, or getting knocked out on my way up the stairs." She rubbed her wrist as she said, "Not the healthiest place to sleep. So consider yourself lucky, because I'm cutting my losses on this one.

Now it was Laurel's turn to laugh. "Sorry, but you're not going anywhere. My boss wants to stay secret a while longer, and that means no witnesses." She ran toward the woman, who instinctively thrust her hands forward in front of her face. And what happened next changed Robert's world forever.

A white blast erupted from Miss Snow's hands, and the next thing he knew, Laurel was imprisoned inside a solid block of ice, only her head sticking out. At the same time, her hair had changed from auburn to platinum blonde. For her part, Snow seemed just as surprised about this as anyone else, staring at her hands and muttering "What the hell?" a few times. Then she looked up and eyed Garrick.

"You did this, didn't you? Some mad scientist stuff I picked up from spending too much time here."

Garrick snapped out of the stupor he'd been held in this whole time and said, "Whatever just happened, Caitlin, I assure you it has nothing to do with me. We all saw an explosion coming from STAR Labs right before we all lost consciousness. If you want answers, I suggest you look there and leave us alone."

Caitlin looked at him warily. "I'll do that. But don't think you're off the hook. If this stuff is here to stay, there's nothing that can keep me out, and I'll be back for your stuff when I'm good and ready." She gave Robert a cocky look and said "Maybe I should get myself some kind of outfit too," before she left.

All this time, Laurel had been shivering too hard to talk. Finally she worked up the strength to stutter out, "Please, help me."

Robert replied, "As I recall, you were just about to kill both of us. So why should we help you now?"

Garrick said, "Now wait a minute. Maybe you're okay letting her die like this, but I'm not."

Robert scowled. "She was after you when she came here. Whoever she's doing it for wants you dead, and she'll keep coming if you let her."

Garrick shook his head. "And will that change if she dies?"

Robert found himself at a loss for words as Garrick continued. "You seem to want to be some kind of hero, going against the people you do, but what do you think a real hero would do in this situation?"

Laurel now piped up again, saying, "Look, get me out of this and I'll owe you one. I'll tell my boss I failed. He'll be pissed, but I'll survive it."

Garrick simply gave Robert a silent glance, and he threw up his hands and said, "Oh, all right. Let's just get this over with."

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After Laurel was freed from the ice, it took several more minutes for her frozen muscles to regain their feeling. Robert and Garrick kept an eye on her the whole time, in uncomfortable silence. Finally she raised an arm a little and said, "So I can move again. And I'll keep my word. At least you can say I do that much. After all, what can someone like me really get done if no one trusts them?"

Robert glared at her coldly and said, "Just go then. And know that I'll be on the lookout for you from now on."

She gave a small laugh. "You really think I'm going to be trusted with something like this again any time soon? No, it'll be strictly small fry for me for a while, but I'll work my way back up. And when I do, I look forward to that fight we didn't get to have this time." Then she leaned in close and whispered something that chilled Robert to the bone. "By the way, Oliver says hi."

He simply stood there just as frozen as Laurel had just been as she sauntered out the door. Garrick asked "So what was that about?"

Robert forced himself to focus again. "Nothing you need to worry about. If anything else like that woman with the freezing powers is out there now, I think both our problems just got a whole lot harder."

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Leonard woke up to see Lisa still unconscious where she'd been sitting next to him. He gently shook her arm, and breathed a sigh of relief when she woke up. "Thank god you're okay," he said.

"Likewise. I've been living here a while and I can tell you, that was not normal." She then looked around and said, "Hey, where's Felicity?"

Leonard's heart went cold as he said, "She was sitting right next to us." He briefly looked around the room himself before shouting "Felicity!"

Her voice came back, "I'm right here, no need to worried."

Leonard sighed again. "Thank god."

A confused looking Lisa said "What?" But before Leonard could answer her, Felicity spoke again, this time quite a bit more agitated. "Leonard, I can't move."

He replied, "Okay, don't panic. Just keep talking so we can find you."

Lisa spoke up again, though he was rather confused by it. "What are you talking about?"

"It's Felicity, can't you hear her?"

"No Leonard, I can't."

Leonard stopped dead in his tracks. "What's going on here?"

Felicity replied, "I'm standing right in front of Lisa, and she's looking right at me. But I still can't move."

Leonard went even stiller as a very strange idea occurred to him, which was still the only thing that made any sense. He turned his gaze from his sister to look out the window. "What do you see now?"

"What's left of the mushroom cloud from that explosion."

Leonard turned back to Lisa and said, "I think we're in very serious and…weird trouble."


	5. Chapter 5

Lisa stared at her brother in horror. "Lenny, what the hell is going on?"

Leonard put a placating hand up. "I don't know how to explain it, but I'm hearing Felicity's voice in my head."

"Well yeah, I'm right here!" said Felicity.

Ignoring that, he went on, "And I just asked her what she could see, and it was exactly what I was looking at."

Lisa shook her head. "Well, I didn't hear anything from her."

Leonard sighed. "I don't know how to explain it. All I can tell you is what I think is going on. She also said she couldn't move at all, so I think…I think she's in my body somehow."

Lisa and Felicity both laughed at the same time, a rather disconcerting sensation. His girlfriend was the first to speak afterwards. "You do realize how crazy that sounds, right?"

After holding up a hand to stop whatever his sister was about to say, Leonard replied, "Felicity, I'm about to close my eyes. Tell me what you can see then."

After he did so, Felicity shouted, "Oh my god, it all just went black!" Leonard promptly opened his eyes again, but the voice in his head just kept panicking. "Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. So it's actually true? I'm stuck in your body? I can't be! Let me out! Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!"

She probably would have kept going like that for a while, except that just then a bright flash burst in front of his eyes, and suddenly the even more terrified Lisa was outlined in a bright flickering light, like there was a fire in front of her. Then he looked down at his hands, and saw them both enveloped in flames. There was none of the pain he would have expected, but now he was just as freaked out as Felicity, and on instinct just ran straight forward. He went right through the apartment's window, and somehow didn't fall.

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As the train sped back to Starling City, Robert had plenty to occupy his thoughts. He still wasn't sure if he could trust Garrick about being an innocent pawn in all this, but with everything going on in Central City (by the time he'd left there were even rumors going around about some gigantic shark creature) he was in no way equipped to stay there. Besides, how would he explain not coming right back to his family?

But what gnawed at him even more were Laurel's parting words. "Oliver says hi." A simple message, with so much weight behind it. He'd told the whole world that his son had died in the shipwreck. Nothing about how they'd both survived on that island for years, or any of what had happened there. The only reason he could think of for her to say such a thing was…

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Robert and Oliver were finally cornered, after months of being hunted. The man who had driven them this far stepped out from behind his followers. They knew him only as Ra's al Ghul, but Robert had always suspected that wasn't his real name. He wore the robes of an ancient scholar, which looked rather out of place on the tall, powerfully built black man with such cold, dead eyes.

"You now have only one choice," he said in the same flat monotone that had become such a source of terror to them. "One of you will come with me, now."

Before Robert could react at all, Oliver leaped forward. "Me. Just take me."

Horror strangled Robert's voice as he rasped out, "Oliver, what are you doing?"

Oliver looked back with tears in his eyes. "I've been nothing but a screw-up all my life. This is my chance to do something good for someone else. Besides, we both know I have the better chance of getting out."

Tears flowed as Robert said, "But it's my job to protect you."

"Not this time. Please, there's no choice left."

Ra's al Ghul put his hand on Oliver's shoulder, a twisted paternal gesture that made Robert's blood boil. "You have done well as a father to raise someone who can make such a choice. Take comfort in that."

Robert stared at the man with all the rage he could muster in his exhaustion. "I will see you again. And when I do, my son is coming home with me."

The man gave a sad smile. "If you only had the slightest idea how many people have told me something similar. But for now, you are free. Just one thing: you may be rescued from this place one day, and if that happens, you will tell the world that your son is dead. If you don't, we will know, and he will not live another day."

Robert collapsed, howling out his grief, as they all left.

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Laurel was working for Ra's al Ghul. It was the only thing that made sense. And if he could even trust her that far, Oliver was still alive. He started weeping again at the first shred of hope he'd had since that day. He'd lied to the world just like he was told, and had even thrown Oliver under the bus with Patty as the only way he could think of to keep the secret. But now, there was a real chance, and he felt truly invigorated for the first time since he'd come home. His fists squeezed on nothing as he began considering what he would do when he again came face to face with the man who'd taken his son.

#####################################################################################

"Rise, Laurel."

She trembled as she got off her knees. She always acted tough, and usually it was true that she wasn't scared at all of whoever she was talking to, but the man in front of her now utterly terrified her. She had risen high enough in Ra's al Ghul's service to know the truth, that the person currently using the name was actually quite new to the role, but he already had such a brutal reputation that she doubted if she'd even walk out of this room alive.

He seemed to read her mind as he said, "I should kill you for such a failure. Garrick is still alive, and our best chance to stop this catastrophe is lost. Look at me."

She hesitantly raised her eyes from the floor. He went on, "But luck is with you, because a new opportunity has arisen that you are quite uniquely qualified for among my servants." He gave a smile even more frightening than his usual stern expression. "You will be seeing your family again."


	6. Chapter 6

Roy Harper spat out some blood as he struggled to rise, and was quite thankful no teeth came out with it after the hit he just took. He slowly backed away from his attacker, stammering "I swear, I've got a big job coming up. I'll have more than enough to pay you back."

He wasn't surprised that the response was a disappointed head shake. "Don't you recognize your own words? We've been here before. And you've long passed the part where I should have stopped listening. People are starting to talk, saying I've lost my edge. Well, what do you think, Roy? Is Quentin Lance softening up?"

Quentin removed his brass knuckles. "That was just to make a point. Not like I need these things to take care of a lowlife like you."

Roy desperately started looking around for someone to help, at which Quentin laughed. "What, you think someone's coming to help? The Hood doesn't care about people like me, and who the hell else in this city would have the balls to take me on?"

A new voice called from above, "How about someone who doesn't need to think with them all the time?"

Quentin recognized the voice instantly and shook his head in irritation. "Damn it Dinah, you're way out of your territory. And…" Whatever he was going to say trailed off as he looked up, spotting her on a fire escape. "And what the hell are you wearing?"

His former wife was dressed all in black, with a mask the same cover over her eyes. "You like it? Between the Hood and all those freaks in Central City, it seems costumes are becoming a new thing, so I decided to get ahead of the curve. I'm calling myself the Black Canary, what do you think?"

Quentin laughed. "You look ridiculous."

"Only if I couldn't back it up." With that she jumped down and went after him with a flurry of attacks. Quentin was no slouch himself, but he found himself completely worn down by the ferocity of her attack, and ended up on his back in short order. Dinah stood over him and said, "And by the way, Mr. Harper does have a new job that's going to make all the money he promised. It's for me. So I'd appreciate it if you kept your hands off him." Roy stammered out his thanks as she led him away.

#####################################################################################

Laurel facepalmed as she watched her father struggle to get up. "And I thought they were screwed up when I left," she muttered under her breath. Well, that was plenty of checking up on her parents for now. It was time to go after the real reason Ra's al Ghul had sent her back home, and hopefully save her head. She just hoped Sara was in the mood to listen.

#####################################################################################

Dinah and Roy didn't get very far before an arrow hit the ground right in front of them, followed by the Hood himself. "I trust I got your attention." He turned to the shivering Roy and said, "You should go. I just want a few words with your boss and it would be better for you if you didn't hear them."

After a few seconds to let him get out of earshot, Dinah asked, "So you heard about someone else in a mask and just had to take a look?"

His reply was the last thing she expected. "Hello, Dinah."

After a couple seconds to get over the shock, she said, "Well, it would be just plain rude to let me go on not knowing who you are too."

The Hood shook his head. "It was your own carelessness that gave it away. Don't expect me to make the same mistake. Something you should work on if you're planning to make a real thing of this."

Dinah chuckled. "So what, you're offering to be my, what's the word, sensei?"

"Far from it. In fact, if you keep on going like you are, we're going to meet some day under less friendly circumstances. I'm here to tell you I saw your daughter recently, and she's fallen in with bad company."

Dinah knew immediately which daughter he meant. "Laurel's wanted nothing to do with the rest of us for a while now. So why should I care about her?"

He sounded oddly sympathetic as he said, "I can't say what your reasons are, I just know that you do. And because of that, you should know that the person she's working for now would kill someone like you without a thought. Or send her to do it."

"And are you going to give Quentin this same warning?"

Another head shake. "There's no stopping the kind of person he is. But you, I still have hope for."

Dinah barked another laugh. "You don't mean because I'm a woman, right? Because I've done some bad things too, and I'd do them again."

"No, not that."

After a pause, she asked, "You want to elaborate on that?"

"No."

She put her hands on her hips. "Well, thanks for the warning, I guess. Maybe I'll see you around some time, if we're both going after the same people."

"Maybe." And with that, he simply walked off. Dinah made no attempt to follow, knowing he would be able to evade her. She might be able to fight, but her sneaking around could still use some work.

#####################################################################################

"Let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out, let me out!"

The same three words had been ringing inside Leonard's head ever since he'd flown out of his sister's apartment. Ever since, he'd been flying to nowhere, helpless to do anything as her panic seemed to keep whatever was happening on constant full power.

But then it stopped. And with that came the sudden return of gravity. Leonard screamed as the ground rushed up at him, but just before he hit it, he…stopped. He was simply hovering a foot in the air, in the same undignified position he'd been in while falling.

A man stepped toward him, and he fell the rest of the way, though it barely hurt at all. Then he realized with a panic that Felicity's voice had vanished.

The man said, "Don't worry, she's fine. I just had to cut your connection temporarily so we could talk. I felt your abilities activate, and once you got close enough, I drew you here. I believe I can help you, if you'll let me."

Leonard groggily got up. "What the hell is happening to us? And who are you?"

"The first question is rather more complicated than I can explain right now. As for the second, my name is John Constantine."


	7. Chapter 7

The life of a secretary at Palmer Tech wasn't exactly glamorous, but Sara knew she couldn't complain about it. She'd run away from home as a teenager when she finally learned just where the family's money came from, horrified that both her parents could be criminals. Afterwards she'd struggled quite a bit, spending more time homeless than not, until she was finally able to get steady work here. If eternally fetching people's coffee and recording their notes put a roof over her head, she'd do it as long as she could.

That roof was a studio apartment deep in the Glades, and it was still stretching her budget thin. But all that was far from her mind when she walked in to discover her sister on the couch. Laurel smiled at her and gave a casual "Hi, sis."

Sara came close to slamming the door and running for it, but her curiosity won out. "I haven't seen you for years. I think something more should be happening here."

Laurel shrugged. "Well, I'm not hugging you. Anyway, it's nice to see you're doing…decently."

"It's called an honest living. You should try it some time."

Laurel stood up at that, her expression turned serious. "You probably won't believe this, but I really respected your walking out like that. It was something I didn't have the guts to do, and I know you hated me for that."

Sara beat down the sympathy that welled up in her. "You know, the cops have been by to see me a few times. They think the white sheep could help take down the rest of the family. Usually it's about Mom and Dad, but occasionally your name comes up too. Always about murder. What the hell have you been doing all these years, Laurel?"

"That's actually what I'm here to talk with you about. I'm working for a certain group right now that's all about doing good in the world, in their own way." Laurel pushed past her sister's scoff and went on, "And now my boss wants something from you."

Sara crossed her arms. "No. Whatever it is. I've heard enough about you to know anyone you're mixed up with isn't someone I want to know about."

Laurel shook her head. "I can force you, if you make me. It won't take long; you just need to let me into Palmer Tech so I can get something from the lab. No one will ever know, and my boss will be able to fix the world a little with it."

Sara shook her head. "What happened to you? Even with everything Mom and Dad put us through, you always seemed to hate them as much as I did. But now you're just like them."

Laurel flinched. "I grew up, and realized the kind of world we live in. It's time you did too."

As her sister approached, Sara was suddenly quite afraid of the look in her eyes.

#####################################################################################

Felicity had not been having an easy time the last few hours. After the terror of briefly finding herself cut off from all sensation, she was brought back and told by this man Constantine that he could help her and Leonard separate again, but only by going through a magic spell. It sounded ludicrous, but at the moment she was in no position to object, so she'd spent the time simply trying to meditate and not think about her absurd situation.

"Felicity, open your eyes," said Constantine gently. She wasn't even aware that she'd closed them, but then she looked down and discovered her own body right where it should be. She grabbed Constantine in a big hug and said "How can I ever thank you?"

He chuckled. "I'm not in this for any kind of money. It's more of an atonement thing, you probably wouldn't understand. But anyway, the two of you have been changed. No amount of magic can change it. So if you ever wish it, you can join your bodies again with all the same abilities you had."

Leonard said, "What, you mean the flying and the fire?"

"And possibly more. This is a new one for me, and we're all just lucky the spell even worked. But you've both been given a gift, and now it's up to you to figure out how to use it. My part in this is done." And with that, he simply seemed to fade into thin air.

Leonard looked at her and said, "Well, not our best date, I'll admit, but I like how it ended up."

Felicity burst out laughing at that. Once she had it under control, she added, "And I have a pretty good idea what you want to do with this thing."

He nodded. "The Hood is never going to see this coming."

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Sara entered the code to the lab with trembling fingers. "You know, for a while I actually thought you weren't as lost as our parents."

Laurel made no response, and silently marched her inside once the door opened. She seemed to know exactly where she was going, never asking Sara for any directions the whole escapade. Just what was this group she was in, and what connections did they have?

Finally Laurel said, "There it is." The object of her search was an ordinary looking circuit board. Sara was completely lost in this place and had no idea what it actually was, but knew that whatever her sister wanted with it couldn't be good.

"Please, I'm begging you, just let this whole thing go."

"Even if I wanted to, I'd never survive. Ra's al Ghul isn't the kind of person who takes betrayal lightly."

Then came the sound of someone heading toward them, making rather less effort to be quiet than they had, and the sisters both froze. Soon enough, around the corner came a man Sara had seen occasionally around the Glades. Roy Harper, two bit crook who no one took very seriously. But you wouldn't know it from the look in his eyes when he spotted them.

"That happens to be what I'm here for too," he said, pointing at the circuit board. "I don't suppose you could just hand it over?"

Laurel laughed. "I hate to tell you, kid, but you're not exactly intimidating me."

"How about me?"

The new voice came from the window, where a figure in black perched precariously. Sara thought she recognized the voice, but it seemed too absurd to even think about. "Mom?"

Dinah sighed and jumped out into the room. "I don't know what you want with that little knick-knack, dear, but I stand to make quite a bit of money on it."

Laurel shook her head. "Not going to happen."

And before Sara knew it, her mother and sister were running towards each other, both ready to fight.


	8. Chapter 8

As Laurel and Dinah charged towards each other, Sara looked away, unable to watch her family turn on each other like this. But as it happened, she was spared the sight anyway as a dagger struck into the ground between them a second before they would have come to blows. "I trust I have your attention," came a voice from above, followed by a man in black robes jumping down from the ceiling.

Laurel groaned. "So this is how little he trusts me, huh? Sending you to babysit me?"

"Seeing what I just stopped, it looks like he was right, wouldn't you say?"

Laurel snapped back, "I had it under control!", but before she could go further, Dinah pointed at the new arrival.

"I know that voice, but it's impossible. Oliver Queen?"

The man sighed. "I'm truly impressed," he said, and took off his hood, revealing a familiar face now marked with a scar from a wound that had almost taken out his eye. "I guess you're someone we should be keeping an eye on, too."

Dinah laughed. "As long as you don't interfere, I don't mind. But more importantly, why aren't you dead?"

Laurel piped in with, "Trust me, you're better off not knowing."

This proved the breaking point for Sara. "Wait, you knew about all this?" The only result was Oliver and Laurel both giving her such a hard look that she backed away, knowing it was best if she just kept out of this. Speaking of which, she suddenly realized that Roy hadn't said anything this whole time either, and she looked around but couldn't see him anywhere. Well, she certainly couldn't blame him if he had just run from this mess.

But it turned out that wasn't the case, as he had taken advantage of the conversation to sneak around behind Oliver and now jumped onto his back. Sara shook her head at the boy's idiocy as Oliver quickly shook him off in Dinah's direction. Despite her best attempts to dodge she wasn't fast enough, and both went down in a heap. Then Sara looked down at her hand. The circuit board was in it; apparently Laurel had passed it without her even noticing when she had been going to fight their mother. Oliver and Laurel were now both looking at her, and she turned and ran.

But she knew from the start it was a lost cause. They were both far more skilled at this game, and no matter where she turned in the maze of the lab, she quickly saw one of them moving to cut her off. She could only think of one way to ensure none of these people got hold of something that they would clearly use for no good. She raised her hand up, and ignoring both their horrified shouts, threw it to the floor.

The fragile casing cracked, and before either could reach her, Sara stomped on it to ensure its destruction. Then came a complete surprise, as a glowing white…something flew up out of the destroyed board. Laurel was closer to it, and made a desperate leap to grab it. But she misjudged the jump, and only ended up swatting the glowing thing away…and right into the middle of Sara's chest, where it dug itself in and vanished. She instantly blacked out.

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Moira was awoken by a strange alarm she'd never heard before. She turned to Ray, only to see him immediately jump out of bed, clearly panicked. "What's going on?" she asked.

As he threw on some clothes, he said, "I have to get to the lab. Something possibly very bad is happening with one of our experiments. I'm sorry, there's no time to say any more. I'll explain when I get back."

Moira simply nodded, though she knew there was no way she would be getting back to sleep now.

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Robert woke up blissfully unaware of all that had happened the night before. That changed when he saw the letter left beside him on the pillow. He immediately recognized Oliver's handwriting, and tore it open.

"Everything is going to plan so far. I've now earned their trust so much that I was sent out to monitor Laurel, if you can believe it. That's what I'm doing here now, but I can't stay or they'll get suspicious. So just know that I'm fine, and I'm going to come back to you as soon as things are finished here. I love you, always."

Tear stains warped the ink by the time Robert had finished reading. They had both known going in that this was the only way they could keep their lives and souls intact, but he still instinctively shuddered when he thought about what Oliver was going through. And he just hoped his actions as the Hood would be able to help in some way.

#####################################################################################

Ra's al Ghul shook his head as the feed from the camera planted on Oliver came in. It had been a bad day, with Laurel's failure to obtain the particle from Palmer Tech and now his discovery that Oliver still held onto ideas that he could avoid his destiny with the League. Well, once he got back, Ra's would make sure to disabuse him of that notion. If he could get his brother Andy in line, a spoiled child like Oliver Queen shouldn't pose any problem.


End file.
